RI and District Policies - Use of Membership Lists

Commercialization & Circularization

Use of Rotary membership databases including the District and Club Database is governed by Rotary International and District 6150 Policy. Please read the following CAREFULLYotary International Code of Policies - CircularizationUsing a Rotary membership list as a mailing (or emailing) list for a non-Rotary purpose is not permitted.

Rotary International Code of Policies requires the following information be presented with any Rotary membership list. These policies concern Circularization or the solicitation of Rotarians and Rotary clubs for organizational or commercial solicitation purposes. If you have a question about how you can use a Rotary club or district membership directory, please consult your club's board of directors.

11.030. Circularization

11.030.1. it is not permissible for a Rotarian to circularize Rotary clubs or other Rotarians on matters affecting his or her individual business interests.

11.030.4. Club and District Directories

Any club or district publishing a directory shall publish in that directory a notice to the effect that the directory is not for distribution to non-Rotarians nor may it be used as a commercial mailing list. (November 2004 Mg., Bd. Dec. 59)

The Official Directory of RI is published annually for the information of all Rotarians. No Rotarian shall use the Official Directory, club or district directory, or any other database or list of names compiled in connection with a Rotary related project or activity for commercial purposes. (RCP 11.030.6.)

Circularizing Rotary Clubs

The limits of authorized circularization of Rotary clubs are as follows:

A club desiring to request the cooperation of other clubs or members of other clubs, in connection with any matter whatsoever, by any means, including telemarketing, must first submit its purpose and plans to the governor(s) of the involved area and secure his, her, or their approval. This applies only in cases where a club desires to request the cooperation of more than one Rotary club or members of more than one club. (RCP 11.030.1.)

A Rotary club(s) engaging in these types of activities must comply with RI policy for use of the Rotary Marks, including proper identification and qualifying language for the Rotary clubs(s) involved. (RCP 11.030.1., 33.020.6.)

No club shall solicit financial assistance or participation in commercial ventures from any other Rotary club or from individual Rotarians other than its own members unless and until it first secures an authorization from the RI Board.

The general secretary shall request the governors of any districts involved in unauthorized solicitations, including those by telemarketing, to take action to end such activities. Continued noncompliance with this policy will be reported to the RI Board for possible discipline for cause, including termination of the club. (RCP 11.030.1.)

Rotary clubs and districts desiring to use a commercial telemarketing, Internet Web hosting, or e-mail firm to solicit the public on their behalf must first submit their purpose and plans to the governor(s) of the involved area and secure his, her, or their approval; comply with existing Rotary circularization policy; and include proper identification and qualifying language for all Rotary Entity(ies) to be represented. (RCP 11.030.4.)

The Official Directory of RI shall not be made available by Rotarians, Rotary clubs, or districts for the purpose of circularization. (RCP 11.030.6.) Any club or district directory must include a notice that the directory is not for distribution to non-Rotarians and may not be used as a commercial mailing list. (RCP 11.040.7.)

Full text of the District and Club Database (DaCdb) Usage Policy.This is the document which you agreed to when you initially logged into DaCdb.

It is the policy of this Rotary District that personal information, including, but not limited to, contact information, personal addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses are the private property of the individual and that the district is loaned the use of this data. The purpose of this policy is to protect “the use of and privacy of” our members’ data by preventing the distribution or use of this information by anyone, except in accordance with the following procedures:

District leadership may only use this database to mass contact Rotarians within the district for Rotary-related purposes.

Club leadership may only use this database to mass contact Rotarians within their CLUB for Rotary-related purposes.

Members may only use this database to contact other Rotarians on a “one-to-one basis” for Rotary-related purposes.

Individual data posted into the District and Club data base (hereafter referred to as DaCdb) may not, under any circumstances, be sold, distributed or used for any non-Rotary related purpose by any member.

Members may not, under any circumstances, distribute other Rotary members’ personal information obtained from the DaCdb to any person or entity, public or private, without the express written consent of each member whose information is being distributed. Furthermore, please be advised that your password in the system is encrypted and not viewable...therefore we suggest you leave the password as assigned by the system (which is usually your RI MemberID number), and just check the box to REMEMBER your log in values.

Member data posted on DaCdb may not be used by any member or club to mass contact other members (other than the member’s within their own club) for any purpose other than Rotary-related purposes.

Clubs and their members are also prohibited from utilizing the DaCdb to create or obtain mass mailing lists, contact telephone lists (or any data fields contained within this database) for any other clubs via the DaCdb for any purposes, including club fund raising or club service projects. (However, contacting the Club Presidents about your club projects is permitted.)

Violation of this policy (depending on the severity of any abuses) may result in, but not limited to the following actions:

the offending member having their security clearance reduced to LEVEL 1 (Member-level access only), -or-

the offending member having their security clearance reduced to LEVEL 0 (public-level access only), -and/or-

recommendation of dismissal from Rotary to the Board of Directors at the member’s club.

The District Communications Officer (DCO) will be the arbiter of this policy. Any decisions made by this individual, with regard to violations of this policy, will be communicated immediately to the District Governor.

Appeal of decisions (made by the DCO) may only be made by the affected individual to the District Governor. The decisions of the District Governor in such matters are final and may not be appealed further.

Anyone accessing the District and Club data base ( DaCdb), must agree to the terms of this policy, the first time they sign on, before access is granted.